


A Princess That He Would Have Been Betrothed To

by FromTheBoundlessSea



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Afterlife, F/M, What Could Have Been, just how things are, not really sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 06:24:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20577944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FromTheBoundlessSea/pseuds/FromTheBoundlessSea
Summary: Bilbo and Thorin talk in the Halls of Waiting





	A Princess That He Would Have Been Betrothed To

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darks1st3r](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darks1st3r/gifts).

> Title inspired by Richard Armitage’s answer to what he would have asked Tolkien

Bilbo sat down next to Thorin as the dwarven king lit his pipe and offered the flame to the hobbit.

It was strange to see Thorin as he had been in his prime, before the madness of gold had taken him. This was the dwarf who had haunted Bilbo’s memories like a pain that could never go away. The loss of Thorin and Fíli and Kíli had been great on all of them, the Company had never been the same afterwards. Bilbo had certainly never gone adventuring again. Never wanted to step from that door and see the great world that surrounded him ever again. Not until Frodo, but even then he had wanted to protect the lad from such heartbreak. 

At least the boy had lost only one companion on his journey to destroy that funny ring. 

“You’ve grown old,” Thorin said at last. “Although I have you beaten by a good sixty years or so.”

Bilbo chuckled. “That you do, and you look better for it.”

“Did you ever get to the mountain again?”

“I tried to, but the elves in charge of me kept bringing me back to Rivendell.”

“Blasted elves.” The dwarf said it without a hit of malice and Bilbo could only smile. “So, did you enjoy your books and your garden?”

“I could have enjoyed them more had you been alive to visit them,” Bilbo admitted. “I was not a hobbit of cheer when I returned to Bag End.”

“I apologize if my death soured your experience to adventure.”

Bilbo was very close to pinching the dwarf king’s ears. He might be younger than Thorin, but he felt so much older. However, he restrained himself. “I was much better after Frodo came to live with me.”

Thorin merely grunted in reply. 

“The mithril shirt you gave me saved my nephew’s life, you know.”

The dwarf smiled. “I’m aware.”

The two smoked for a long, quiet moment. 

“Someone else came to Bag End after you passed,” Bilbo said at last. “They did not stay, but they did stop to visit.”

“Aye.”

“Lyra.”

Thorin stiffened and glanced at Bilbo. “What did she visit you for?”

“She wanted to know the dwarf you were when you died.” Bilbo watched his friend carefully as the dwarf released a smoke ring. “She’s the dam you told me about at Beorn’s, isn’t she? The dam you would have married once you reclaimed the mountain.”

“That she is.”

Thorin had not named the dam, but he had spoken of her. 

_ She has hair of mithril and eyes like emeralds. _ He had said in the garden of the skin-changer. _ I’ve known her since I was a stoneling and I have loved her since. She is my very heart. _

Bilbo had never heard a person more in love. It reminded the hobbit of how his father often described Bilbo’s mother. While he and Thorin had made their peace with each other, Bilbo had yet to see him so at ease. 

_ We could have gotten married before I left, but she deserves to be wedded in the halls of our ancestors. She deserves more than a cold mountain that has never truly been home. _

But that was never to be for Thorin had died on that quest and had left Lyra a widow before she was even wedded. 

“I’m told she died a few years ago,” Bilbo said, gently. 

“Aye. She is back in the home Mahal has let us live in, in a home we were unable to have in our lives before.”

“I’m happy for you, Thorin. You deserve all the happiness you can have.”

The dwarf smiled, a wide grin that shaved off a good fifty years. “I best go. Lyra and the boys and Dís and my brother are waiting for me.” Thorin stood. “Would you like to join me, Master Burglar. I believe I owe you at least one meal considering you hadn’t expected us the first time.”

Bilbo smiled. “I shall take you up on that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday darks1st3r!


End file.
